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by Kristen Lehman

Summer Goals Reveal!

Our Summer Goals Reveal was a lot of fun! I packed these baskets (gathered from throughout my house) full of things that will help the kids with their goals and their bucket list. Let me be clear: My goal here was to have all of the materials necessary to do the tasks assigned. I am QUEEN of “not having what we need when we need it.” So I try to get as much stuff together as possible so that they have what they need at their fingertips.

Most of the things in their baskets I rounded up from all over the house! As much as I love summer goals the “getting stuff” isn’t the point so we wanted to be clear about that from the beginning.

I clipped a copy of their summer goals on their baskets and then each child took a turn reading their list and pulling their items from the bucket! It was so much fun watching their expressions as they realized what they were up for this summer.

The rules about the baskets are:

That they must stay in our dining room all Summer.

The equipment may only be removed if they are using it for a Summer goal/bucket list purpose.

We are super flexible about our baskets, they can use them at anytime and I will periodically throw some extra stuff in there if I find something that pertains to their goals, they keep library books the aren’t ready to read yet, their library summer reading program sheet, passwords to their online accounts.

As the summer progresses and if they are doing well with their goals, I will often put an incentive in their baskets – a piece of candy or a clue to their reward (hint: I think they are going to LOVE their reward for this summer)

In addition to summer Goals you’ll find their chore list and daily activities! I’ve found that it is so much easier answer the questions “can I watch TV? play iPad? do video games?” if I point to their list and can honestly say YES, when you’ve done your chores. And then we don’t restrict. If all their things are done, they can have as much “tube time” as they want. For Connor- that’s the rest of the day. For Shannon that’s about 15 minutes before she moves on or falls asleep.

Connor (11) has been doing summer goals for 6 years. We always try to anticipate a few needs he might have for the upcoming school year. Since he is headed off to middle school and will be riding his bike alone/with friends, we thought learning to inflate a tire, replace a chain, and straighten handlebars would be a useful skill to have!

Shannon (8) is on year 5 of summer Goals! Each year we try to accomplish something FUN and a few things that are work. This year listening and obeying immediately has been a definite challenge. We are both going to really focus our time and energy on clear and concise direction and immediate follow through. Wish us luck, this one is hard.

Millie (3) is really not capable of doing her own goals. We do summer goals with her as a way for me to recognize what growth needs to happen and to move through it. Her goals are definitely my goals – but good practice for the years to come!

Mom’s List. this is the first year i’ve made myself a list. This is also the first year that both of my big kids can handle their own summer goals without my every minute involvement. (yay for consistency!)

Our Bucket List: Our bucket list is simply a list of things we’d like to do. I DO NOT put a whole lot of time into it! It would be amazing to check it all off, but it’s not necessary. It’s a great response to “what will we do today?” It’s also helps to make sure we do a few things that are different from the “swim team/pool/tv” routine we tend to fall into over the summer.

Please leave me a comment if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to answer them!

To follow our Summer like our Facebook page Five For Flying, I’ll be updating frequently with our progress!